This invention relates to embroidery and more particularly to a method for performing shadow work embroidery with a sewing machine which yields shadow work embroidery that looks like fine shadow work embroidery performed by hand.
Normally, shadow work embroidery can only be accomplished by hand stitching. Hand stitched shadow work embroidery involves stitching with needle and thread along an outline of a design on the front of the fabric while performing a crossover stitch on the back of the fabric to yield a shadow appearance on the front of the fabric caused by the color of the thread showing through the front of the fabric. Such hand stitching is very time consuming, often taking many days for each design. Thus, clothing containing hand stitched shadow work embroidery can be very time consuming to make and costly to buy.
As a consequence, many people have tried to duplicate hand stitched shadow work embroidery using a sewing machine. Unfortunately, unlike manual stitching an embroidery sewing machine cannot perform an outline stitch on the front of fabric and a crossover stitch on the back of fabric at the same time and another method must be employed.
Thus, a need exists for a method of performing shadow work embroidery using a sewing machine that is equal to or better in appearance to hand stitched shadow work embroidery and yet can be performed in much less time.
In the prior art, one method used to perform shadow work embroidery with a machine has been to place a color fabric behind a sheer fabric, sew an outline stitch through both fabrics and cut away the excess color fabric next to the outline so the color appears from the underlying fabric through the outer fabric in the shape of the outline stitch. However, as there are no threads used for the coloration of the shadow effect as in shadow work embroidery, an observer sees just the color shadowing through the outer fabric from the trimmed color fabric on the underside. This method also requires that you must not only change the color thread for each section of the embroidery, but also stop the process of the embroidering by machine to clip away the color fabric from behind before another section of that embroidery can begin. Thus taking excess time to stop the outline process of embroidering, taking time to trim the colored fabric, reinsert another color of fabric behind the embroidered piece to do the next section of the outline of the design. Thus, this method is limiting and also time consuming to the machine stitcher.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,891 issued to Muto on Jan. 14, 1997, teaches a method of performing shadow work embroidery using a sewing machine to fill in stitches between an outline to yield a somewhat shadow work embroidery effect. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,140,563 and 4,092,451 issued to Sernaker on Feb. 29, 1979 and May 30, 1978, respectively, teach a method and apparatus for making embroidery transfers using two layers of fabric and heat. It does not involve using a sewing machine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,021 issued to Kaye on Aug. 18, 1981 discloses a woven tri-axile fabric of yarn for use in needlepoint but it does not employ a machine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,760 issued to Garzone, Jr. on May 12, 1992, discloses patterns made from multi-embroidered lace layers but again does not employ a sewing machine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,000, issued to Mizuno, et al. on Dec. 12, 1995, discloses an apparatus used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,891 discussed above. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,514 issued to Hayakawa, et al. on Apr. 5, 1994, discloses another process and apparatus for producing machine embroidery but it is not like the present invention. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,662 issued to Pongrass, et al. on Apr. 18, 1989, teaches another method and apparatus of performing machine embroidery.
None of the prior art is like the present invention which enables one to produce a shadow work embroidery effect that simulates or is even better than hand stitched shadow work embroidery.
The present invention provides such a method which reduces substantially the time to produce a shadow work embroidery design. For instance, a design that might take eight hours by hand stitching would take less than fifteen minutes using the method taught by the present invention.